1. Technical Field
The invention relates to the navigation and task management of network browsers in a computer environment. More particularly, the invention relates to the recording and storing of user navigational paths and tasks for network browsers and computer programs in a computer environment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Modern Internet browsers allow users to navigate through websites easily. Most browsers provide some type of device that enables the user to backtrack through previously visited web pages. This "history" function generally lasts throughout the time that a user instantiates the browser program until the point where the browser is terminated. This time period is what traditionally defines a "session." The session history function on browsers record the current navigation path of the user, i.e. it is a single-threaded path. Referring to FIG. 1, browsers 101 provide back 102 and forward 103 buttons which are used to traverse the path.
With respect to FIG. 2, a drawback to this approach is apparent when a user navigates through a path on a typical browser, visiting page A 201 first. Page B 202 is then visited, followed by page C 203. The user backtracks up this path to page B 205 and deviates to page D 207. Once the user goes off the path, information about the previous path that was deviated from is lost. Here, the fact that the user visited page C 206 after page B 205 is lost. Only the path of pages A 204, B 205, and D 207 exists.
Another approach uses a global history, where every page that is visited is recorded and the user has the ability to get back to any of the previous pages visited. However, there is no context associated with global history. The paths can be sorted by date which means that as long as the user visits all of the pages in the global history only once, then she is able to tell what other pages where visited in that time period. This gives the user an idea of her activities within a certain time frame. However, if the user revisits a page, then the time stamp for that page is updated and all context is lost because each site is saved only once, not multiple times. Global history only records the first and last visited date for any page. The user is unable to tell what other pages were visited within the previous time period.
Further, one other approach allows the user to create a list of pages that she is interested in and which defines her path. The user navigates through the custom path in the browser. The back and forward buttons in the browser operate on the path. This allows the user to use the same path multiple times. However, there is only one list and it is single-threaded.
It would be advantageous to provide a session navigation system that records and categorizes all of the paths that a user navigates through in a session. It would further be advantageous to provide a session navigation system that is centralized and enables the user to designate multiple custom paths which include tasks that cross application programs.